Fleurieu Magic: Exploring the Western Balkans: Montenegro and Macedonia

MONTENEGRO

In contrast to Albania, Montenegro seemed very prosperous. It was also very pretty - except for the capital Podgorica which still had lots of communist -looking buildings.

Here we visited a new Orthodox cathedral. I'm not one for churches but this did have some beautiful painted walls and ceilings.

Then it was on to Cetinje, a World Heritage site. There were lots of former embassies here from when it was the capital. Many of the buildings were from the 1920s and 30s (which was a change from being told everything was 4th century BC).

Budva was another World Heritage site, a walled fortress town on the Adriatic Sea.

Historical references date settlement from the 5th century BC, though most of the existing buildings are from the 400 years of Venetian rule, (1420 - 1797).

I loved its setting on a rocky peninsula.

Next on the list was Kotor, yet another town on the World Heritage list. And what a delight it was. It's been fortified for yonks but what tourists see today is from the Venetian period around the 1500s. Before you think I was able to use a drone for this next photo I confess that it is from Wikipedia because it perfectly shows the town's picturesque fjiord-like setting.

Source: Wikipedia

The steps to our apartment

It was so hot I resorted to shorts!

I loved looking for details on the buildings.

Lots of choices for dinner.

At the southern tip of Montenegro was Ulcinj by the sea.

Perast was a gorgeous little town. There's not much to it and we were not there long. We just walked along the harbour road where there were picture postcard views at every turn.

The houses are being bought up and restored beautifully at a cost of millions of Euros.

We took a small boat over to this island where there was a church.

MACEDONIA
We drove over the border from Albania to Macedonia and visited Lake Ohrid again, this time on the Macedonian side. A small spring-fed river off Lake Ohrid provided us with some respite from driving. We took a boat ride here.

The town of Ohrid had a lovely entrance to its park near the square - potted geraniums.

There were loads of shops selling the local cultured pearls.

A jolly busker

A lovely sunset.

The next day we did a tour with our guide. Yes, another amphitheatre!!!!!

At a local market our guide Ivana looks at a fox pelt!

Another archaeological site.

A lovely view of Kanoe Church - understandably very popular for weddings.

We took a brief boat trip around the promontory for a different perspective.

Skopje, the capital was a disappointment. It was rebuilt after the 1963 earthquake in which 80% of the city was destroyed. Authorities decided to commission lots of statues to place around the town to look impressive and give the city a fake 'past'; the statues don't represent anyone or anything and are totally meaningless according to local archaeologists and historians...